With all the preparations done, it’s time to lay it down in Sochi.
Cochrane doubles luger Tristan Walker and sliding partner Justin Snith of Calgary are at the Russian resort town preparing for their second attempt at an Olympic medal for Canada.
Through consistent World Cup finishes this season, they’ve earned a spot in the top-seeded doubles luge group, ensuring a decent starting position on a Sanki Sliding Centre luge track that reportedly favours top-seeded sliders before deteriorating into the later rounds.
Canadian luge head coach Wolfgang Staudinger, a bronze medallist in doubles luge for Germany at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, is pleased with the progress Walker and Snith have made preparing for the Olympics.
“The doubles team is looking very good going into Sochi,” Staudinger said from the Olympic site. “With the past three-four years they have stabilized their sliding abilities and technical aspects. I think they are at their peak at the moment.
“They are looking pretty sharp. With a little bit of luck, they probably won’t do so bad.”
The doubles team’s best World Cup luge season to date has them on schedule for a performance of Olympic proportions.
“They are in the right spot,” Staudinger related. “They’re strong enough and stable enough to handle the pressure – they should be, at least.
“Looking at the performances over the season, having their first (World Cup) bronze medal in Konigssee, they’re good to go. I’m sure they’re eager and I’m confident that they will perform.”
All the preparations are done, now it’s just time to get out onto the 1,500-metre-long Sanki track that drops 132 metres over 18 curves. The track even has two uphill sections to keep top speeds, which can reach 140 km/h, in check.
“We are basically just working on putting six good training runs and two good race runs together. All the work has been done in previous racing and training. Right now we just have to find our way and line on the track with consistent start times. If we do that, we’re in the game.”
As for his expectations, consistency is everything in luge. Staudinger just wants his doubles team to do what it’s capable of.
“They finished fourth here in March on the World Cup, very close to the podium. They had some normal performances, nothing extraordinary. If we just put our normal performances, what they’re capable of, into the place then I know they can do very well. That’s all we’re trying to do. Nothing special, nothing extraordinary. Just a normal performance.”
The luge doubles event goes Feb. 12 and team relay Feb. 13.
